Anti-Gay Activists Paint LGBT-Inclusive Church With Leviticus Message – And Suggestion To ‘Burn’

A Georgia church whose pastor was the first to obtain a marriage license after the Supreme Court decision was the target of an anti-gay hate crime Tuesday morning.

Before coming to work this morning, Pastor Rick Sosbe of the Metropolitan Community Church of Our Redeemer in Augusta, Georgia, received a text message from a church member. It was a photo of the front of the church’s building bearing a rather unfriendly message: “burn.”

An anti-gay activist or activists overnight painted the words “Leviticus 18:22,” “burn,” and “lies” across the front of the Christian church. Leviticus 18:22 is the infamous biblical passage that commands, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”

Sosbe and his fiancé, Michael Rhen, were the first same-sex couple in town to obtain a marriage license after the Supreme Court’s ruling last month.

“I was angry. I was very sad and I thought, ‘Just why?’ To me, it seems so interesting that they’re saying on there that you’ll burn – in other words saying ‘You’ll burn in hell,’ I’m sure – and quoting scripture. Is that what Christianity – right-wing, fundamentalist Christianity – has come to?” Pastor Sosbe told the Augusta Chronicle.

“We’ve occupied this building for 12 years, and this is the first (time) something’s happened,” he added, ignoring that a gay pride flag that flew in front of the church had been stolen a few weeks ago.

Augusta Public Information Officer Lt. Allan Rollins, the Chronicle reports, “said that even though it seems the crime is based in ‘dislike,’ it’s difficult to classify it as a hate crime until a suspect is caught and questioned.” That is not the automatic assumption every law enforcement department makes, and given this particular crime, a charge of “hate crime” seems appropriate.

The Church has a Facebook page which notes there will be a vigil tonight at the church.

David R. Henson, an Episcopal Church priest and blogger who “until recently ministered in the Augusta area,” shared his thoughts at Patheos.

“Christian persecution in the United States is real. It’s just not what you think,” he writes. “Real Christian persecution is having your church graffitied hatefully because gay and lesbian people can worship there.”

Those interested in helping the church can visit their website or their donations page.

 

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